The toll toad authority needs to make sure this project matches community values and aesthetic values and provides congestion relief for the area - not just for people who can access and afford the toll road. Additional smart improvements include:
1) Provide Congestion Relief for General Traffic Flow and Special Events
CTRMA needs to evaluate both general traffic flow and special event traffic in this top 50 most congested area of Texas.
CTRMA is using 16.5 million dollars of Rider 42 (Prop 12 tax payer money) to pay for the environmental study to build toll lanes. The Rider 42 money was to be to address the congestion in the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI) top 50 most congested corridors. According to the 2016 TTI most congested roads report only 2.6 miles of the MoPac South project is on the “Most Congested” list. The area is from Lady Bird Lake to Loop 360. If we, the tax payers paid 16.5 million dollars to ease congestion from Lady Bird Lake to Loop 360 then we want to see congestion relief.
The problem is it does not benefit the toll authority to reduce congestion. In fact their bond ratings depend on congestion being created to
The engineering plans for adding toll lanes to South MoPac include making existing free lanes more narrow to make room for the tolled lanes. In addition, the Ingress and egress for toll lanes are causing new bottlenecks and making existing bottlenecks worse. The final nail in the coffin will be the future connection to IH-35 which will give the toll lanes the congestion they need to be profitable.
2) Change to and EIS instead of an EA
The purpose of an Environmental Assessment (EA) is to determine if there will be significant effects resulting from a Federal action. The purpose of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is to analyze and disclose the significant effects resulting from a Federal action. An EA is typically a shorter document than an EIS, and its preparation offers fewer opportunities for public comment or involvement than an EIS. EAs have fewer procedural requirements and therefore take less time to prepare on average than an EIS.
It is clear that the elevated toll lanes would have significant financial cost and significant impacts to the natural and human environment of this special and unique area of downtown Austin. The area has many different uses close together including residential, business, walkability, bike path, and our most well known urban park which is arguably the heart of Austin's downtown. Zilker Park is Austin's Central Park.
3) Objective Evaluation of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and Transit Only Lanes
The Mopac South Environmental Study needs to study and evaluate an alternative that includes 2 HOV lanes in each direction. CTRMA has ruled out HOV and Transit only lanes saying they are 50% less effective than toll lanes. They compared “the HOV lane” i.e. 1 HOV lane with 2-toll lanes each direction w/elevated direct connect. We want an apples to apples comparison of HOV and Toll Lanes.
4) Fully optimize the alternatives - especially the design with no double decker.
The CTRMA staff has failed to provide the public with sufficient or reliable information about each of the 6 alternatives upon which the public can collaborate with CTRMA to evaluate the benefits and significant impacts of each alternative. CTRMA staff have failed to treat each of the 6 alternatives evenly and have failed to evenly include elements into the 2 express lanes each way without direct connection that could significantly reduce the travel times of those intending to use the toll lanes and the general traveling public. In addition, CTRMA staff have failed to provide a rationale to support the
decision to recommend elevated lanes for the Cesar Chavez toll exit lanes, but to use inner lane toll lane exits at other points along Mopac that have a higher volume of exiting traffic than is predicted for Cesar Chavez.
5) Evaluate and Improve 2244/Bee Caves Intersection
The Mopac South Environmental Study needs to provide improved designs for the Bee Caves Road/Mopac intersection, or provide a written rationale for why improvements to the Bee Caves Road/Mopac intersection are not a part of the Study. The Mopac South Environmental Study needs to present all alternatives with the Bee Caves northbound on-ramp entry length returned to the current length or longer.
6) Improve the design of the pedestrian area under Mopac at Zilker Park to allow unimpeded bike & pedestrian access to downtown Austin
The current proposal for pedestrian traffic in all 6 alternatives is not a safe solution for managing pedestrian traffic in the area. Push button cross walks are, in practice, dangerous for this area and the proposed pathway require pedestrians to cross 3 intersections with variable high
speed traffic and blind spots. We want CTRMA to evaluate the placement of a pedestrian overpass across Barton Springs on the east side of Mopac within the TxDot Right of Way.